Help I'm Alive
by hpbandgeek1998
Summary: It's 1977 and Remus Lupin meets a young woman who will change everything. Time-travel, HGRL, Marauder era Hogwarts (Post-Deathly-Hallows-Hermione). Adopted from Floatsodelicatly
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Okay so I'm a horrible person. I recieved these chapters forever ago, but due to finishing a school year and then lots of traveling during the beginning of summer and multiple camps and other things, have not had the chance to upload the chapters, or even write new ones. Yes, I am aware that these are a bunch of excuses, and I should've had these up months ago, here I am. I promise that within the next week or two, I will have a chapter or two written, and will begin to post new chapters as soon as I can. Seeing as I don't have a beta, and wanted to get these chapters up, all the old chapters I have have not been re-read for grammar errors and what-not, but I will go through and do that as soon as I have all the chapters up, and at least one new one written. I would like to thank floatsodelicately for giving me this story, and I promise, I will not lag behind on it anymore. Without further ado, here it is.**

Chapter 1  
"If you're still alive, my regrets are few" - Help I'm Alive – Metric

It was the summer of 1977 and the day after the full moon. Remus Lupin was walking through the corridors at Hogwarts, having just been released from the hospital wing after recovering from his transformation. He had reached the portrait of the fat lady, which led to the Gryffindor Tower, when he heard a voice. He carried on towards the main doors of the castle, thinking that it was probably one of the teachers since there would be no other students around during the holidays. He had permission from Professor Dumbledore to spend his transformation night in the forbidden forest and as always, Madame Pomphrey had helped him recover from that night, neither of them had mentioned any other students being in the castle.

'Are they singing?' Remus paused for a moment and concentrated on the voice. 'They are singing.'

He didn't recognise the voice and highly doubted that it would be Professor McGonagall that was singing in her office. Checking his watch, he noted that he had time to spare before he had to meet his friends at the Three Broomsticks as they had arranged before, and he decided to investigate.

It was normally James or Sirius that did the detective work, they found something suspicious and then snooped around until they discovered all of the sordid or, more often, mundane reasons behind it. He followed the sound of the voice down the corridor; he had been led to an empty portrait that had been left ajar. He nudged the canvas open a tiny bit more and peered inside the room.

He could hear the voice more clearly now, but still couldn't see who it belonged to. Looking around at the room, he could see that it resembled the Gryffindor common room, though on a smaller scale. There were doors that he assumed led to a bathroom and bedroom and a couple of others that he couldn't guess what was behind. He was interrupted from his speculations as the door that he had guessed led to a bedroom opened and a young woman stepped out. He pulled the canvas closer to him so as to remain hidden and looked at her.

She had long brown hair, curly and bordering on bushy. He couldn't see her face as she was still turned away from him. She was wearing black jeans, not the flared style that he recognised as in fashion with other girls, mainly muggleborns since many witches weren't familiar with muggle fashions, but the clean-cut style suited her. On top she wore what looked like a homemade knitted jumper that looked like it was made for someone much bigger than her as she had the sleeves bunched up and the bottom hem of it landed mid-thigh. The largeness of the jumper did nothing to hide how thin she looked. In her arms she carried a small ginger kitten, a fluffy, squashed-nosed thing that looked very disgruntled at being serenaded as it was.

"It's got mountains, it's got rivers, It's got sights to give you shivers, But it sure would be prettier with-"

Remus watched as she twirled and skipped around the small, cosy common room, singing to the grumpy little kitten. He wasn't paying attention to anything else and so was shocked when the portrait's resident returned to the canvas and shrieked at him.

"Excuse me! Young man! What do you think you are doing?!"

Remus was startled by the outburst and tripped over his own feet, causing the portrait to open wider and as he looked up, he looked straight into the eyes of the mysterious girl. She stared at him and he stared back. Remus scrambled to his feet and searched for something to say.  
"I'm sorry…I'm erm…oh dear…erm. I'm Remus…Your cat is cute. What? I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…I'll be going now."

And with that he left, leaving the girl and the ginger cat staring at the open entrance to their room in astonished silence.

Remus entered the Three Broomsticks looking flushed and distracted. He took a seat at his normal table and waited for the rest of his group.

'Your cat is cute? What kind of-?'

Remus' thoughts were interrupted by the appearance of his butterbeer as Sirius slammed the bottles down onto the table and slid into the seat beside him.

"Alright Moony?"

"Yes. I'm fine. I think. Yes, I'm fine."

James sat in the seat opposite him and looked at him over his glasses, "You sure mate? You seem a bit…off. Was last night ok, Sirius didn't mention anything going wrong in the forest?"

"No no, last night was fine," Remus scratched at the label on his bottle, "Do you know if anyone's staying at the castle?"

Sirius' brow furrowed, "No, don't think so. Even most of the professors go home for the summer. Old Dumbles sticks around though, why?"

"There was someone there, I've never seen her before-"

Sirius grinned and leaned forward in his seat, "A her, eh? Tell me more."

James groaned amusedly, "Come on Pads, give it a rest!"

Sirius ignored him, "What's her name? What does she look like? Is she young? She's not the new Defence professor is she because I-"

Remus gave a short laugh, "Honestly Sirius, I don't know. I fell into her room and then blathered on about her cat and then ran off to get here."

James and Sirius were quiet for a moment as they thought of their friend, who was always composed, making a fool of himself before they burst into fits of laughter. Peter entered the pub and made his way over to their table.

"What's going on?" he asked as he sat down beside James.

Sirius tried to answer but couldn't breathe properly, James had better luck, "Our good ol' pal Moony just embarrassed himself in front of a pretty lady…" he said, smirking at Remus.

"I didn't, I just…yes I did. Shut up." Remus took a swig of his drink and looked out of the window and up to the castle as he thought of the chocolate brown eyes that he had locked onto earlier.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
Last chapter: Remus took a swig of his drink and looked out of the window and up to the castle as he thought of the chocolate brown eyes that he had locked onto earlier.

Lblblblb

Three of the Marauders were at the Potter house. Sirius had just bought a flat in muggle-London and they were helping him pack up his room and move. Peter was staying at home with his sick mother so it was up to James and Remus to gather Sirius' annoyingly large record collection.

"Really Padfoot? You have three copies of the same album! Why do we have to do this? Mum and Dad said you didn't have to go anywhere, you could stay here and-"

"No James," Sirius said…seriously, "I can't impose any longer. Your family has been great but I need to have a place that's my own. A place that I can-"

"Bring girls home without Mrs Potter seeing?" Remus suggested.

"I like the way you think Remus," Sirius grinned. "Now carry on packing, your mum said that she had company coming over and we aren't allowed to be here when they come."

Remus looked puzzled, "Why aren't we allowed to be here when they get here?"

"Ergh!" James moaned, "It's that bloody Order! I don't get why they won't let us in! It's not like Old Voldy has an age requirement on his side."

"Maybe it has to do with us still being students and them mostly being trained Aurors" said Remus.

"Ooooh! Look at you Mr Voice-of-Reason. I still want in," James pouted childishly.

Sirius passed a sealed box over to Remus and asked him to floo over to the flat with it. On his way down the stairs, Remus heard a knock at the door. Assuming that it was the company that the Potters were expecting, he decided to go back to the others so that they could see who was in the Order. A few moments later, Remus, Sirius and James were huddled under James' invisibility cloak and were peering around the corner towards the front door. Charlus and Dorea Potter were greeting the guests that had arrived for the meeting and the boys weren't surprised to see that most of them were Aurors or Hogwarts staff.

The group of people slowly started to move into the living room and the invisible Marauders were able to identify some of them. There was Head Auror Alastor Moody, looking stern and almost terrifying. Professor Flitwick was talking to the Prewitt twins, Gideon and Fabian as they walked over to their seats followed by Arthur Weasley. At the back of the group they saw Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore speaking to a girl that looked no older than them.

"That's her!" Remus whispered, "That's the girl I saw at Hogwarts!"

"You see lots of girls at Hogwarts, Remus. Half the students there are gir-"

"Shut up Prongs! I mean the girl I saw on Monday."

"Oooohh, your mystery gal with the pretty kitty?" Sirius grinned.

"Ew, how did you make that weird?"

"Can you two be quiet, they're about to start and you know that Dumbles hears everything," James whispered, "He's got hearing like a bloody bat."

The three of them crept silently towards the open door of the living room and listened as the meeting began. Dumbledore started off with a recap of recent Death Eater activity that they had been monitoring and investigating, before moving on to the various missions of the Order members. The boys looked around the room and Remus' eyes landed on the young girl once more. She was wearing dark blue jeans similar to the ones he had seen her wearing before and she had on a long sleeved t-shirt that almost covered her hands. She was sandwiched between Gideon and Fabian who had apparently decided that they needed to embarrass her as much as possible judging by the furious blush and the stern glares from the witch they had their arms draped around. He could see her face clearly this time and he was amazed by what he saw. Her features were soft yet hard-set. She had an overall look of innocence but her eyes seemed to show that she had been through a lot. The girl was a walking paradox and he couldn't have been more obsessed with her.

Remus started to pay attention to the conversation as one of the twins started speaking, "So what about little Miss Granger? What's her mission?"

Professor McGonagall looked at Fabian – or was it Gideon? – and answered, "Miss Granger will be attending Hogwarts this year."

"What?" both of the twins asked.

"She knows more about this stuff than any of us and she's just going to school?!"

"Well what else am I supposed to do?" she asked in a soft voice, "I can't get a job because I have no N.E.W.T.s, I live at Hogwarts so I'd end up locked in my room all year long and I never got to finish my studies. It'll be fun."

Under the cloak, Sirius looked at Remus, "Fun? You really know how to pick 'em. She's like a female you. Nerd love at its best."

"And besides," she continued, "Albus said that I'll be accompanying some of you on missions when you need me. It's not like I'll be mucking around on the Quidditch pitch or something. I'll still be helping where I can."

"Hermione is right," Professor Dumbledore said, "She's doing more than her part in this war and has done time and time again. I'm just sorry that she's had to have any kind of role in this." The Order members looked sad at this, the headmaster even losing his ever-present twinkle in his eye as he looked at the girl.

"It's ok," she chirped, trying to be happy to lift the mood in the room. "When it's done, it's done. Then everything can be better than it was. Or will be? I still can't work out my tenses, sorry."

Dumbledore chuckled, "Don't worry dear, I don't think that any of us could cope with everything in your head." The others joined in with his laughter and she groaned as the twins ruffled her hair teasingly.

The meeting carried on for a while, the mood fluctuating between serious and light-hearted over and over again until Dumbledore announced that there was no further business to be dealt with. Most of the Order members either left the house to apparate from the garden or floo'd away to their homes from the living room fireplace. After about ten minutes, the only ones left in the room were Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall and Flitwick, the Potters, Arthur Weasley and the new girl, Hermione Granger.

"Are you sure it's alright?" Arthur asked.

"Yes Mr Weasley," Hermione smiled, "I'd be more than happy to. You and Mrs Weasley deserve a night off and it's been so long since I've seen the boys. It's nice to be around them even if they aren't who I know them to be yet, or maybe they won't be like that at all. Will they? Does Charlie like dragons?"

"Oh Merlin, yes. Can't get enough of them. Do you have any idea how hard it is to do an accurate impression of a Hungarian Horntail?"

"I can only imagine," she laughed. "So I'll be there at 6 then?"

"Yes, 6. Thank you Miss Granger."

"Please, call me Hermione."

"Only if you call me Arthur," he grinned before he floo'd back to the Burrow.

McGonagall smirked at the young woman, "Are you sure you can deal with your new babysitting mission?" she asked playfully.

"Please," Hermione sniffed in mock-arrogance, "I am Hermione Granger! Bookworm extraordinaire! I think I can handle naptime with the Weasley boys."

The others looked at her in silence for a few moments before her attitude changed. "Oh no! They're Weasleys! And they're babies!"

The teachers and Hermione soon left the house and with the distant pop of apparition, the boys guessed that they had left for Hogwarts. Still hiding from James' parents, they crept back to Sirius' half packed up room and looked at each other.

"Who the crap is she?"


	3. Chapter 3

Last chapter: The teachers and Hermione soon left the house and with the distant pop of apparition, the boys guessed that they had left for Hogwarts. Still hiding from James' parents, they crept back to Sirius' half packed up room and looked at each other. "Who the crap is she?"

Lblblb

It was Friday evening and James was lounging in an armchair by the fire, reading a Quidditch magazine. Sirius had moved into his flat and James was getting restless without his partner in crime around constantly, even though they had spent most of the day together. It was partly because of this and partly due to his curiosity that he listened in on his parents' conversation in the hallway.

"I won't be long, I just want to go and drop this off with Hermione," Dorea said, gesturing to the covered casserole dish she held in her hands.

"You just want to interrogate her some more," said Charlus, grinning cheekily at his wife.  
"I do not want to-", she cut herself off at his amused glare, "Fine. Maybe I want to know more about him."  
'Who do they want to know about?' thought James, 'Who is this him?'  
Dorea walked into the living room and was almost at the fireplace when James made his presence known. "Mum? Where are you going?" he asked.  
"Erm…just to the Burrow. I've got to drop off this casserole…"  
James interrupted her, "You're taking food…to the Weasley's? I don't think anyone's ever done that. Mrs Weasley cooks enough for all of England."  
Dorea looked at Charlus who shrugged before saying, "Might as well tell him, they're going to meet anyway."  
'I can always count on you, Dad. Never cares to keep secrets,' James thought happily.  
"Molly and Arthur are out tonight, dear. I'm taking this over to their babysitter, Hermione. She's going to be coming to Hogwarts this year with you," his mother explained.  
"Can I come then? I can meet her and make a good Hogwarts impression? I am Head Boy after all," James said with a grin.  
Dorea shifted uncomfortably for a moment before giving in, "Fine, you can come. But no tricks of any kind!"  
James gave a bright smile and a quick salute, "No tricks, ma'am. Marauder's honour!"  
Charlus chuckled before Dorea muttered something about there being no such thing as honourable marauders as she headed to the fireplace. James followed his mother as she floo'd to the Weasley family home, stumbling out of the fireplace and into the living room. He looked around the room to see Hermione sitting on the sofa looking quite cosy next to one of the Prewitt twins with Charlie Weasley sleeping on her lap, Bill on the other side of the twin, giggling at his uncle's story.  
"Evening all," Dorea called as she brushed the soot off of her dress with her free hand.  
"Evening Mrs Potter," all of the awake occupants of the room called while Charlie grumbled sleepily and burrowed further into Hermione's jumper.  
"Hermione, this is my son, James," Dorea said and nudged James, who stuck his hand out to Remus' mystery girl.  
"Pleasure to meet you," he said, becoming nervous at the reality that he was actually meeting the girl from the meeting, who the Prewitt twins said 'knew more about this stuff than any of us' and Dumbledore had said had played a part in the war 'time and time again'. For the respect that the Order members showed her, James was surprised that even up close she seemed young, innocent even. In his nervousness, it took him a second to realise that she still hadn't taken his hand. She seemed to just be staring at him, looking at his hair and his face in a strange sort of wonder before her eyes landed on his and she seemed…disappointed? 'What could that mean?' She seemed to snap out of it quickly though as Prewitt (James still didn't know if it was Fabian or Gideon) placed a hand on her knee, she blinked hard and grabbed James' hand, shaking it happily and returning his greeting.  
The conversation went on from there, the usual small talk of 'How have you been?' 'I've been good.' 'Oh that's good.' 'You've been good?' 'Yeah I've been good.' Never failed to bore James and he soon tuned out slightly. It wasn't until his mother mentioned his name that his focus came back to the room.  
"James, could you watch Bill while we go into the other room? Hermione needs to put Charlie to bed and I need to talk to them privately for a moment."  
"Yeah, sure Mum," James replied.  
The four of the left the room, James waited until he could hear them moving up the stairs before he turned his attention to the young Weasley who was staring at him intently.  
"Hi there Bill," James chirped.  
"Hello," Bill responded before turning his attention back to the stuffed hippogriff that sat on his knee.  
James didn't know what to do, he was the only child of two only children, he had no experience with kids. He decided that he would try fishing for information about this Hermione girl and sat down beside the boy. "So…" he started, "have you been having fun with your Uncle and Hermione tonight?"  
"Yep," Bill answered, making the toy animal trot around the sofa and onto James' knees before looping around again.  
'Apparently he's not a chatty kid then…'  
"Hermione just moved here then? Do you like her?" he asked, desperately trying to get something to report back to his friends.  
"I do!" Bill smiled, apparently James was doing ok, "she's great! She's the smartest and the funnest and," he lowered his voice a bit, "she's the prettiest girl ever…"  
James smiled at the young boy's little crush. "Are you sure? A handsome fella like you must have all the girls after him!"  
"Ergh! No! Mynee's not like other girls! She says she's not good at being a girl, I don't know what that means, but she says boys are easier to understand. I think she's good at everything, she's really good at being a girl."  
James' smile grew at the blush on Bill's cheeks, 'Looks like Moony might have some competition…'  
"Have you noticed anything…strange about Hermione?" he probed.  
"Mynee's not strange!" Bill cried, jumping up from his seat and glaring at James. He looked oddly menacing for an almost seven year old.  
"Woah there!" James said, raising his hands in surrender, "Calm down mate. I was just asking if you had noticed anything about her…" he trailed off, beginning to doubt the merits behind his master plan of interrogating a child.  
Bill calmed down and looked troubled for a moment before picking up the stuffed toy once more and fiddling with the wings. His mouth twisted as he thought about his words before he spoke, "She looks…sad. She's happy and we're playing but then she gets sad." He set the toy down beside him, "Uncle Gid helps though!" he said, brightening up a fraction, "He makes her not sad for a while!"  
James smiled at Bill as he picked up one of Charlie's dragon toys and started to play. His thoughts drifted to what he had learned and what to do with the new information. It wasn't much. Not by a long shot. And it wasn't very clear. He could hardly gain much from a six year old child though, no matter how many ways he tried to question Bill.  
So she was sad. He had gathered that from the sympathetic looks she had received at the meeting earlier that week. But Gideon stopped her being sad? It must have been Gideon there that night then. What did that mean? Wasn't he a bit old for her? Granted, the twins were only a few years ahead of them at Hogwarts but still, wouldn't it be better if she was with someone her own age? Someone like…Remus?  
It wasn't often that Remus liked anyone. He was so focused on being a 'monster' or a 'danger to society' that he forgot about being a teenager. One night, just one night a month, he gets a bit furry and wants to chew on people a bit. Maybe that was a slight understatement but Remus deserved to be happy! James could understand why he didn't tell anyone. With the way that people look at werewolves, it's easy to see why Remus wanted to hide it from everyone. He was ashamed of it, his furry little problem. But James didn't see why he didn't let anyone close. The four of them got close and when they found out his secret they didn't stop being his friends! They became animagi for him for crying out loud!  
But Remus liked Hermione. He got flustered and embarrassed himself when he met her. That's what teenage boys are supposed to do! Moony was being a normal guy for a while, not an angsty werewolf hell-bent on living in the woods in solitude with nothing but an armchair for company.  
What if she did like Gideon? Bill said that Gideon made her happy. She clearly needed some happiness. But Remus could make her happy! Not to sound like Bill but Remus was fun and smart and handsome, maybe pretty in a boyish way…James made a mental note to tell Remus to be extra happy around her, and another for himself reminding himself to never call his male friends 'pretty' again.  
The others re-entered the room at this point, Dorea in the lead as she shooed James over the fireplace, indicating that they were on their way back. James looked back at Hermione and Gideon, he noticed that they were quite close, not necessarily romantically but there was something there. Gideon had his hand on her back as she stood beside him, her right hand fiddling with the sleeve of her jumper. Her rather large jumper, he noticed, Remus mentioned that her jumper seemed quite big the first time he saw her; he said she was almost drowning in it, something that James could see too. It clearly wasn't hers, if the size of it didn't make it obvious, the bright yellow 'F' on the front of it did.  
Before James could think about it anymore, his mother practically shoved him into the fireplace.


	4. Chapter 4

Last chapter: What if she did like Gideon? Bill said that Gideon made her happy. She clearly needed some happiness. But Remus could make her happy! James looked back at Hermione and Gideon, he noticed that they were quite close, not necessarily romantically but there was something there. Before James could think about it anymore, his mother practically shoved him into the fireplace.  
Lblblblb  
Remus was headed down to Gambol and Japes to meet the other Marauders as they stocked up on prank supplies before heading off to Hogwarts in a few days. He had just finished his own shopping with his last stop in Flourish and Blotts to pick up his textbooks for the year.  
'I wonder what courses Hermione will be taking, maybe we'll be in some classes together.'  
As if his thoughts had summoned her, he turned the corner only to crash into the mysterious girl he had met only weeks ago. But she wasn't alone.  
"Hi Remus!" she said, with a bright smile on her face that differed greatly from the scowl on the face of her companion.  
"Hello…erm…?" he trailed off as if he didn't know her name.  
"Oh!" she said, remembering that she didn't get the chance to introduce herself before he ran away when they first met. "I'm Hermione. Hermione Granger. And this is-"  
The boy beside her cut her off, "We know each other already. Lupin," he nodded in greeting.  
"Snape," Remus nodded back, still confused as to why they were together. Judging by previous experience, being friends with Severus Snape only led to the Marauder's teasing Snape mercilessly. It happened when James was interested in Lily, although it was calming down now that they were no longer friends and James and Lily were becoming closer. Would they do that to him again because of Remus' interest in Hermione? 'Maybe I should warn them not to start all that again, I don't even know if they're actually friends or not…'  
"So what brings you to Diagon Alley?" she asked cheerfully.  
"Oh, you know, just picking up the last of my things for next year," he said, waving his bag of books slightly.  
"So you go to Hogwarts?" He nodded and she continued, "That's great! I'm starting this year and I'm really excited to get to school, I mean I've been to school before but then I took a year out and then-"  
She was cut off by a grumbling voice from behind her, "You're rambling again, girl." The man emerged from the doorway and Remus could see that it was an auror. Specifically, it was Auror Alastor Moody that had joined their little group.  
"Alastor, don't jump out at me like that it isn't funny!"  
"When you stop jumping a mile into the air whenever I do it, then I'll stop. Until then, get used to it. Have you got everything?"  
She took a quick look through her bags and looked back at the grouchy auror, "We just have to stop at the apothecary and then that's it."  
Snape looked confused, something that hardly ever happened, "But you just went to the apothecary, that's where you kidnapped me-"  
"I didn't kidnap you, Severus. I merely…invited you to walk with me."  
"Invited?" he said, raising an eyebrow at her.  
"Fine, maybe I made you come with me, whatever. I need to go to a different apothecary."  
Remus wasn't sure what to make of this exchange. She called him Severus, which would suggest that they were friends. But he said that she 'kidnapped' him and she admitted that she forced him to come with her, which would suggest that they weren't. Unless Snape was being playful, which Remus seriously doubted. That boy didn't have a playful bone in his body.  
Moody had had enough and reminded Hermione that they needed to leave, she huffed slightly and said, "Fine, fine. Geez you're grumpy, has anyone ever told you that?"  
"No they haven't, generally people are scared of getting hexed. Unfortunately you don't seem to be worried about that so I have to tell you to get a move on. Now get a move on!"  
"Ergh. Bye Severus! Bye Remus!" and then she left, sending Remus a heart stopping smile that caused Severus to look on with a disgusted expression.  
"Don't bother, wolf," and with that Snape left too, leaving Remus deflated as he remembered just who, and what, he was.  
'Stupid Moony'  
Lblblblb  
"You know," said Hermione, "you really don't have to be so stern all the time. I'm sure that people would still respect you if you smiled."  
The auror glared down at her, "What was that?"  
"What was what?" she asked innocently as they walked down the street.  
"I thought you said that Snape was a Death Eater."  
"He was a Death Eater. And an Order Member. Honestly, Alastor, do keep up."  
"Listen girly, you need to stop poking fun and start taking this seriously."  
Hermione whirled around in front of him and stopped, she paused to cast notice-me-not and silencing charms around them before turning to Moody. All playfulness had disappeared and she looked at the older man almost menacingly, "I'm taking this all very seriously. If you think that I'm not, then you're wrong. And you can zip it with the 'girl', my name is Hermione. Call me that or Granger. I don't care, but don't condescend to me. I respect you because of what you've taught me in the future, but since you haven't done that yet, you don't get to act like you know more about this. I am the best asset that the Order has right now, seeing as I've lived to see the end of Voldemort and his groupies. If you don't want to help me then fine, I didn't ask for a babysitter. I'll go to the sodding apothecary myself, it's none of your concern anyway." She cancelled the charms and left, stepping into the apothecary that was only yards away. The auror was left stunned, no one ever spoke to him like that. But she was right.  
Lblblb  
Remus finally found James and Sirius, Peter was visiting with his family somewhere up north but said that he'd meet them on the train back to school. They spotted Remus and Sirius left James at the till to pay for their supplies as he caught up to their werewolf friend.  
"What's up Moony?"  
"I'm a werewolf."  
"What?! How can this be? You've never told me before!" Sirius cried dramatically, clutching his hand to his heart in feigned shock, "Now what's this about then?"  
"That's it. There's no point. I'm a…thing…"  
"Remus, come on. What's brought this on?" he said, leading the other boy to the bench outside the shop window. The alley was getting quieter which meant that they could talk about Remus' furry little problem out in the open without the use of silencing charms.  
Remus raised an eyebrow at him before sighing, "What do you think it is?"  
"Ah, girl problems. I've been there, my friend."  
"I doubt it."  
"Ok, maybe not the same kind of girl problems, but I've had them all the same. Now tell Uncle Sirius all about it," he said with a small smile.  
"I don't even know her, I'm definitely overthinking it. It's just, I was talking to her, sort of, and she's such a…warm person."  
"You mean she's hot?"  
"What? No. Well, yes she is, but that's not what I meant."  
James exited the shop and made his way over to the others, "What's going on?"  
"Moony's sad because of his 'furry little problem'."  
"Sorry mate," James said, looking sympathetically at Remus, "I thought you were moving on?"  
"Moving on?" Remus asked.  
James shook his head before clarifying, "Not 'moving on' moving on, but 'moving on' like looking on the bright side. There are so many other days of the month where you have a normal amount of hair and don't drool all over the place. What's brought this on?"  
"Remus spoke to the hot girl," Sirius answered.  
"Which hot girl?"  
"The mysterious one from your house."  
"Oh, I saw her the other night. Sorry I forgot to mention it."  
"You saw her?" both Sirius and Remus asked, sliding forward in their seats as they focused on James fully.  
"Calm down. And yes, I did, only for a little bit. She was babysitting the Weasley kids and my mum went over, I just tagged along to do some covert spying."  
"And what information did you collect, Mr Prongs?" Sirius asked.  
"Not much really. Bill said that she's sad and-"  
"Wait a minute," Remus interrupted, "so your source of information on a mystery Order member is a little kid? How old is Bill? Six?"  
"He's almost seven actually, and he's quite perceptive." The other two boys scoffed at this and James continued, "Like I said, she's sad. I know that we figured as much from what went on at the meeting but now it's confirmed. Something happened to her. He said that Gideon makes her happy, so she's got people that cheer her up. That'll stop at Hogwarts, which is where we step in."  
"Marauder's to the rescue!" Sirius shouted as he leapt up from his seat beside Remus and waved an imaginary sword at James, who responded in kind. The two had an imaginary sword fight for a few moments, probably longer than two teenagers that were in their last year of school should do, before turning back to Remus.  
"Anyway," James said, "it looks like you've got competition."  
"Her and Gideon?" Remus questioned.  
"Nah, mate. It's Bill you want to watch out for. Little guy's crushing on her in a major way. And he's got the cute looks and the charming personality to woo any fair maiden he sets his heart on."  
"He's six."  
"The kid knows what he wants. You do too. A little fur shouldn't stop you from at least trying."


	5. Chapter 5

Last chapter: "Bye Severus! Bye Remus!" and then she left, sending Remus a heart stopping smile that caused Severus to look on with a disgusted expression. "Don't bother, wolf," and with that Snape left too, leaving Remus deflated as he remembered just who, and what, he was…"It's Bill you want to watch out for. Little guy's crushing on her in a major way. And he's got the cute looks and the charming personality to woo any fair maiden he sets his heart on." "He's six." "The kid knows what he wants. You do too. A little fur shouldn't stop you from at least trying."  
Lblblblb  
The three Marauders set off down Diagon Alley and headed towards the Leaky Cauldron, Sirius wouldn't let Remus change the topic from his encounter with Hermione.  
"So what did you talk to her about?"  
Remus sighed, "Nothing really, she introduced herself since she didn't get a chance to before-"  
"You mean when you ran out of the room as fast as your feet could carry you?" James grinned.  
"Yes then. You both enjoy my embarrassment far too much."  
"It doesn't happen that often. I have to savour the moment."  
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't," Remus grumbled.  
"Moony, your embarrassing moments are like a fine wine, you don't have it that often so you cherish it," Sirius said, miming swirling a glass of wine with one hand before gesturing to James with the other, "Unlike James here, the amount of times that Lily's turned him down means that he churns out embarrassing moments like a round of shots."  
Remus chuckled at James' offended expression, "That's a lovely analogy but can we-"  
"So what happened?" Sirius interrupted.  
Rolling his eyes in defeat, Remus answered, "She was with Auror Moody."  
"Moody? He won't be happy on a shopping trip," James supplied.  
"No he wasn't, although she wasn't exactly helping, she kept poking fun at him," he paused as he thought how to continue, "But erm, there was someone else there."  
"Who was it? Anyone we know? Another Order member?" James whispered.  
"No…it was Snape."  
The other two stopped in their tracks, forgetting about the Leaky and the promise of a cool butterbeer.  
"Snape?"  
"Snivellous? Why was she with Snape?"  
Remus hurriedly told them about Snape being 'kidnapped' and then let slip that Hermione was going to another apothecary, at which point, Sirius' eyes brightened.  
"No. No, Sirius," Remus tried.  
"Ah, come on Moony! Introduce me to your little love," Sirius said as he turned around and pulled Remus along.  
"'Little love'", Remus quoted in a high pitched voice before clearing his throat, "She is not my 'little love', I barely know her and if you start creeping her out then she'll steer well clear of us at school."  
"Ah, pish posh," Sirius stopped in front of Remus and smoothed out the shoulders of his jacket.  
"What are you doing? Get off of me!"  
"Smartening you up for your petite amour. Now come on, introduce me," with that, Sirius pushed him through the door of the apothecary and James followed behind.  
The three teenagers moved through the aisles of the darkened apothecary, passing the other customers that were there but not the one that they wanted to find. It took a while before James spotted her, looking up at a shelf of glass ingredients jars and attempting to pick one up. Sirius spotted his opportunity. He sauntered over to the girl and easily picked a jar up and looked at it.  
"Aconite?" he said with a raised eyebrow, "What are we buying this for?"  
Hermione huffed out a breath and took the jar out of his hand, "That's none of your concern," she said walking towards the till.  
Sirius blinked at her, he wasn't used to many girls not falling at his feet or at least indulging him in a little flirtation. He followed after her and tried turning on the charm.  
"Maybe I could make it my concern," he smirked, ignoring James' scoff from behind him, "What do you say we go and get a drink?"  
"Err, Pads," James piped up, looking uncomfortably between Sirius and Remus, "Maybe you should…not do that…"  
Hermione perked up slightly, seeing that Sirius wasn't alone and hoping that he wouldn't carry on, having heard from Remus (in her time) about his playboy past. "Oh hi James," she nodded, "Hello again, Remus."  
"Hello again," Remus greeted her. "Sirius, this is Hermione. Hermione, this is Sirius," he said, waving a hand to his friend.  
The cocky Marauder stepped forward once again and took her hand in his and bowed with flourish, "Sirius Black, at your service mademoiselle."  
She looked up from him kissing her hand and asked Remus, "Is he always like this?"  
The other two laughed as Sirius straightened up, looking on in mock-offense as Remus answered, "Normally, yes he is. Sometimes he calms down but this…this is somewhat tame."  
Hermione moved over to the till, the group of boys followed her. Sirius tried to flirt jokingly and Remus was quietly happy that she shot him down at every turn. He decided to ask her about earlier, "So you were with Auror Moody before?"  
"Oh, yes," she said, "He was being, well, moody, so we parted ways."  
"My dad works at the ministry," James said, "He does seem quite…gruff."  
"That's a pleasant way of putting it," Hermione added with a smirk.  
"So how did you get saddled with him?" Sirius asked.  
"I was supposed to come here with Professor McGonnagall but something came up and Alastor was just there," she shrugged.  
"Why were you coming with Professor Minnie?" Sirius asked with a smile, "What about your parents?" His smile faded as Hermione looked immediately uncomfortable and started rearranging the bags in her arms ready to leave. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"  
"No, no. It's fine. I just don't want to talk about it," she interrupted, not meeting their eyes. "Well, I'd best be off." She turned and made her way out of the shop. The other two Marauders cut a glare at Sirius who winced.  
"Wait," James called after her, reaching her a few doors down, "Where are you staying if…?" he trailed off.  
"I'm staying at the castle, now I really need to get back. If Alastor's gone back then they'll be expecting me…"  
The other two caught up to them, Remus smiled, "So we'll see you there next week?"  
"Yes, yes you will," she said as she made her way to the apparition point.


	6. Chapter 6

Last chapter: "Where are you staying if…?" he trailed off. "I'm staying at the castle, now I really need to get back. If Alastor's gone back then they'll be expecting me…" The other two caught up to them, Remus smiled, "So we'll see you there next week?" "Yes, yes you will," she said as she made her way to the apparition point.

Hermione landed in front of the school gates, her cloak whipping around her in the breeze. They opened slowly, allowing her entrance to the grounds. She waved her wand at the bags to shrink them before putting them inside her beaded bag as she made her way up to the castle. Hagrid waved and made his way over to her and they walked along the footpath.  
"Hi Hagrid," she smiled.  
"'Lo there 'Ermione. You all ready fer the start o' term?"  
"Yep! All ready! I can't wait, I never bothered getting ready for seventh year, I mean, I read the books but that's much different from being here," she finished with a fond look at the castle.  
"I was just goin' down to feed the chickens," he started, gesturing to the bag of feed, "yeh can come down fer a spot o' tea later on if yeh want?"  
"That sounds lovely Hagrid, it'll be nice to catch up before the start of term when everything gets hectic again."  
Hagrid peeled away, heading towards the enclosure where the chickens were kept, leaving Hermione to her thoughts. She eventually reached the castle entrance and hurried through the empty corridors to the now familiar portrait. The young woman, in a deep purple corseted dress, with crimson lips that parted in a pleasant smile, accepted the password and opened her portrait to Hermione's living room.  
Hermione walked inside, leaving her bag on the console table in the entryway, and made her way up to her bedroom. She took off her cloak and hung it on the back of the door and then waved her wand at the wardrobes and drawers, moving the clothes and toiletries into her trunk. She had been staying in these private quarters for a little over three weeks and was now getting ready to move to Gryffindor tower with the rest of the students at the start of term. After a private sorting, in which the Sorting Hat had agreed with its earlier – or later – decision to place her in Gryffindor, it was decided that staying in private quarters would distance her from other students.  
As she finished packing, leaving a few items of clothing for the days before the start of term, she decided to head down to Professor Dumbledore's office for a quick chat. She soon arrived at the large stone gargoyle that sat outside the headmaster's office.  
"Rhubarb and Custards," she said, rolling her eyes at Albus' love of muggle sweets as the gargoyle moved out of the way and she walked up the staircase.  
"Ah, Hermione, to what do I owe this visit?" Albus greeted fondly.  
"I just wanted to check in, I figured that I might not be able to do so as often once term starts up again," she shrugged. She looked at his desk and saw that it was covered in files and parchment, making it look messier than she had ever seen it, "Something going on?"  
"Nothing serious, dear. The professor that we hired for Defence Against the Dark Arts this year has resigned, now I have to find someone else…" he trailed off gesturing at the mound of paper he was looking through.  
"At this short notice? Classes start in a few days!"  
"Yes, well," he sighed, "I think I've found a suitable replacement. This Mr Yaxley works in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, so he has knowledge and experience in these matters, we've had dealings before and he is a-"  
"Death Eater," Hermione cut in shortly.  
"Hermione, Mr Yaxley is a high ranking-"  
"Death Eater."  
"-employee at the Ministry." Albus continued, ignoring her interruption.  
Hermione groaned dramatically and flopped back in her seat, something that made the headmasters' eyes twinkle in amusement. "Why can't you hire someone who, I don't know, isn't psychotic or terrible? In six years of my being here, we had one, maybe two good teachers. Professor Snape wasn't the best teacher unless you ignored the snide remarks about everything but Remus was great!"  
Albus, who still hadn't heard a lot about how he ran the school in the future or more detailed information about Hermione's life, noticed how she still referred to Severus as 'Professor' but called Remus by his first name and the slight reddening of her cheeks as she talked about him. "What would you suggest? Since apparently my applicants are no good…"  
"What about Alastor? When we had him, well, we didn't really have him, but you thought that we had him so I suppose he wasn't too far out of character, but when he taught us, he was good," Hermione answered, not seeing the confused look on Albus' face as she rambled on.  
"I doubt that his…sunny disposition would suit many of the students," Albus said with a wry smile.  
"Maybe he could spare an auror? They have the best practical knowledge, and…"  
"That is, unfortunately, exactly what we need," Albus finished sadly.  
lblblblblblb  
The three Marauders arrived at Potter Manor one after the other as they stepped out of the fireplace. The older Potters were in the living room and looked up at the boys' entrance. Dorea was sat in an armchair by the window, reading a book as a pair of knitting needles clicked out a scarf in the air beside her.  
"Afternoon boys, did you get everything that you needed?"  
"Yes, Mum," James answered as he kissed her cheek in greeting. He and the others were leaving the living room when he turned back to mention a little bit of what happened that day, "We, erm…we saw Hermione. You know, the girl from the Burrow?"  
Dorea sat up straighter and put her book aside, "You did? How was she? Did she seem ok? You didn't bother her did you? I know you lot think it's funny to-"  
Charlus pipes up from his seat on the sofa, "Calm down, sheesh woman, it's a wonder you can even breathe when you rush everything out like that," he grinned playfully at his wife.  
"We didn't do anything to her, don't worry," James said with a slight eye-roll, though Sirius and Remus looked slightly uncomfortable as they remembered the awkward way they had left things.  
"Good, and don't do anything once you're at school. I know that you don't think that we know about all of your antics but you'd be surprised at how gossipy your professors can be."  
The boys paled slightly, a bit worried that their parents knew what went on at school, "We won't," Remus assured her and pulled the other two from the room and they headed up the stair to James' room.


	7. Chapter 7

Last chapter: "Maybe he could spare an auror? They have the best practical knowledge, and…" "That is, unfortunately, exactly what we need," Albus finished sadly…"Good, and don't do anything once you're at school. I know that you don't think that we know about all of your antics but you'd be surprised at how gossipy your professors can be." The boys paled slightly, a bit worried that their parents knew what went on at school, "We won't," Remus assured her and pulled the other two from the room and they headed up the stair to James' room.  
Lblblblblb  
Hermione was nervous. It was the first day of her first term at Hogwarts since her journey back in time and she was worried, not about the work since she had read the N.E.W.T. level books before they left on the Horcrux hunt and from what she had seen of the curriculum, it seemed that N.E.W.T. level students in the future were more advanced. She was worried about the students themselves, it had been hard to see the Order members that she knew in the future, the people that she had only heard of – like Fabian and Gideon, who had become close friends – and the Marauders. She knew that she would face the junior Death Eaters that were still students.  
She thought it over as she washed her hair, imagining how it would feel to let her troubles slide away like the suds that disappeared down the drain. Soon she stepped out of the shower and wrapped her towel around her body. Humming happily as she moved about the bathroom, she took her time as she knew that she couldn't do this when she was sharing a bathroom with the other Gryffindor girls.  
She finished off with a quick wand movement that dried her hair, leaving it to fall down her back in thick, curly waves. Hermione opened the door to her bedroom and started to unwrap her towel to begin dressing when she heard someone clearing their throat.  
She squeaked in surprise and span around, almost dropping her towel, to find the intruder, when she found two.  
"My, my, Miss 'Mione. How have you been hiding those legs from us?" Fabian teased from the chair by the bed.  
"What are you two doing here?" she shrieked slightly. "Why are you in my room? I'm getting changed! Stop wiggling your eyebrows at me, you perv!"  
Gideon ducked out of the way as she threw a cushion at him, "Now, now, there's no need to get violent. Ain't nothing wrong with appreciating a woman's body," he grinned cheekily.  
"Well you can stop 'appreciating' my body! Go away for five minutes, let me get dressed," she said, shooing them towards the door.  
"Awww," they whined.  
"It's more fun when you're annoyed," Fabian started.  
"And naked," Gideon continued with another wiggle of his eyebrows.  
Hermione shut the door on their smirking faces and got dressed. She had finally managed to master the tailoring spells that Ginny had tried so hard to impress upon her all those years ago, so now she could make her clothes suit her rather than try find something that didn't make her feel like she was off to a 70's themed disco – a difficult task since it was the 70's. She emerged from the room minutes later in a simple skinny jeans and t-shirt combo, not wanting to wait around in her uniform until the other students arrived. Fabian and Gideon were sprawled across the two sofas that were on either side of the unlit fireplace, leaving her with nowhere to sit. She walked to the nearest twin, Fabian, and nudged his legs.  
"Budge up," he quickly moved his legs to allow her to sit but then placed them on her lap, trapping her in. "So what are you doing here?"  
"Hear that Fab?"  
"Sure did Gid."  
"Seems like our little Miss Wonderwitch doesn't want our company," Gideon said playfully.  
"Sounds about right, well I think that our news will make her day," Fabian said, sitting up and leaning in to Hermione with a smirk.  
"What are you two gits doing?" she asked, half nervously and half amused.  
The twins gasped and held their hands to their hearts in mock offence, "Gits!" they cried.  
Gideon recovered quickly and grinned at her, "Why Miss Granger, that's no way to speak to your professors…"  
"You're…? You two are…? How did this happen?!"  
"We owe it all to you, Princess," Fabian leaned back on the sofa, grinning at her.  
"Yep," Gideon continued, "A little birdy – with a long grey beard – told Moody that he needed to borrow an auror-"  
"Or two apparently-"  
"So here we are!"  
"Ready to teach you everything we know!"  
"Which is a lot!"  
"So much!"  
Hermione groaned and buried her face in the arm of the sofa as the twins looked on in amusement.  
Lblblblblblb  
Remus found their cabin easily, Sirius and Peter were waiting for him and James had disappeared to find Lily in the Heads' compartment. The two were playing Exploding Snap as Remus was reading the textbook set for Potions, knowing that he would struggle in his least favourite subject.  
"Who do you think we'll have for DADA?" Sirius asked, not taking his eyes from the cards.  
"Dunno," Peter shrugged, "Hopefully someone good, last year it was just lectures…"  
"Hours of lectures!" Sirius groaned in agreement.  
"I think we'll do more practical stuff this year," Remus said. "I mean, we kind of need it with…how things are at the moment…"  
Peter shifted uncomfortably, aware that he wasn't as well-equipped to deal with the upcoming war as his friends were. "Do you really think it's that bad?"  
"Yeah Pete, it is. There've been three attacks on muggles this month by Death Eaters," Sirius said sadly. "When we graduate we can join the Order and finally help beat that damn snake."  
Remus looked out of the window and thought about joining the Order. He wanted to, but he knew that his lycanthropy would make the others less likely to trust him. Voldemort had been recruiting werewolves in the past few years and he knew that there were many like Fenrir Greyback that were more beast than man. Sometimes, he didn't feel like he should be trusted at all. Dumbledore let him into his school, let him learn magic when other were's don't have the opportunity, but he was still a creature one night out of the month, and was ruled by it for the rest of the time. Moony made it impossible to date, he never approved of any girls that Remus dated, so his relationships never lasted that long. He would get irritated easily before the full moon and would be incredibly drained for days after. His condition ruled him, and he still had trouble accepting it.


	8. Chapter 8

Last chapter: "Yep," Gideon continued, "A little birdy – with a long grey beard – told Moody that he needed to borrow an auror-" "Or two apparently-" "So here we are!"… Moony made it impossible to date, he never approved of any girls that Remus dated, so his relationships never lasted that long. He would get irritated easily before the full moon and would be incredibly drained for days after. His condition ruled him, and he still had trouble accepting it.  
Lbllblbllblbb  
The sun was setting and the staff received word that the train had arrived at the station, meaning that the students would be arriving shortly. Hermione made her way through the castle with the twins and remembered the first time she arrived at the castle, knowing the awe that the first years experienced as they sailed across the lake on those little boats in the moonlight. Fabian and Gideon said goodbye with a brief hug from each of them and slipped away to meet with the rest of the staff. Soon enough, the students swarmed into the entrance hall and Hermione was able to slip into the crowd unnoticed. She was making her way over to the Gryffindor table when the loud voice of Sirius Black called to her, causing her to almost trip over the second year Hufflepuff in her path.  
"Oi! Hermione! Come sit here!"  
Hermione winced as many of the students looked over to the lions' table and saw her for the first time. The whispers broke out immediately as they speculated about the new girl. She attempted to ignore them as she walked briskly towards the group of boys.  
"Who is she?"  
"She's in Gryffindor robes."  
"How does he know her?"  
"In with the Marauders' already?"  
"Is she Black's new girlfriend?!"  
"Lucky girl," judging by the glare that accompanied this statement and was also noticeable on many other girls' faces – and one or two male students' – Sirius was indeed the Gryffindor heartthrob as Remus had told her once during her stay at Grimmauld Place.  
She reached the Marauders and was greeted warmly by the boys. She knew that she would eventually meet Peter, but she had been dreading it since she first saw Remus and was reminded that she would have to interact with them, especially if she was going to change things for the better.  
"Miss Hermione Granger," James began, "This is charming young fellow is Peter Pettigrew, the final piece of our quartet."  
Peter smiled timidly at her and held out his hand for her to shake.  
She smiled back, trying to hide the disdain that she held for the man. Reminding herself that he hadn't done anything yet, and hopefully never would, Hermione forced a polite greeting and shook his hand over the table before Sirius pulled her down into the seat between him and Remus.  
Deciding after their last interaction, that it might not be best to delve into Hermione's past, James went for the usual start of term question. "Who do you think we'll have for Defence?"  
The other boys shrugged and looked up at the staff table where the professors were starting to take their seats. "I don't know, Prongs," Sirius started, "Are there more chairs than normal? Are they making us take another class?!"  
"Calm down, Pads," Remus chuckled. "You've already picked your courses; they can't spring any more homework on you at the last second. James, your parents are on the Board of Governors aren't they? Did they mention anything?"  
"Nah, they said that someone resigned a few days ago, so I've not got high hopes for this year, I mean, they couldn't get a really good teacher only a few days before term."  
Hermione piped up from her seat between the boys, "It's the Prewett twins."  
"How d'you know?" Remus asked.  
"Well, I'm staying at the castle and they popped into my room to tell me the good news," Hermione answered, half-blushing at the memory of her semi-naked encounter with the twins and their teasing.  
Remus raised an eyebrow at the slight blush on her cheeks, this went unnoticed by the brunette as she scanned the crowd for familiar faces. The others caught it though and were slightly unsure of how to deal with a jealous Moony, since he had never taken an interest in girls as he had apparently done with Hermione.  
The Sorting ceremony passed quickly, with a few first years joining the group of students at each table as they were sorted into their houses. Dumbledore, as he always did, reminded the students that the Forbidden Forest was forbidden and that a list of prohibited items could be seen outside Filch's office if anyone was interested. The twins were introduced as the new professors and with a few playful winks and cheeky smiles; they had won over most of the female students.  
With a flick of the headmaster's hand, the food appeared on the crowded tables and the students began to dig in as they caught up with each other. Towards the end of the meal, as James, Sirius and Peter scarfed down their food Ron-Weasley-style, much to the disgust of Hermione and Remus who both watched with a grimace, a new face appeared beside their group.  
"Potter, Professor McGonagall wants to meet with us to discuss our Head duties," the girl said, causing James' head to snap up, his cheeks still filled with apple crumble.  
"Wha-?" he asked, spraying crumbs across the table.  
"Ergh. Please close your mouth James," Hermione said, wiping her robes down as Sirius and Remus did the same.  
"Yeah, I'm not really keen on Potter-spit-crumble," Sirius groaned.  
"Professor McGonagall wishes to speak with us about our duties once you're finished," Lily repeated. "Please say that's now because I can't watch that performance anymore."  
James wiped the crumbs from his lips as he blushed at the groups' mocking, "Ok, by the way, this is Hermione, she's new."  
Lily turned her attention to Hermione who was stunned into silence as she looked into Harry's bright green eyes in the young girl's face. "Hi, I'm Lily. I'm Head Girl with this idiot," she pointed at James who grumbled embarrassedly as the other Marauders chuckled sympathetically.  
"I'm Hermione, new girl," she greeted quietly and Dumbledore stood up at that moment to ask the prefects to escort the first years to their dormitories and the other students to leave the hall.  
Sirius, Peter, Remus and Hermione got up from their seats and followed the group out of the Great Hall and made their way towards Gryffindor Tower. "Oh," Remus started, "I forgot to ask if you were staying in the tower, I mean, you weren't before when-"  
"When she caught you peeking at her?" Sirius grinned cheekily at the blush that coloured his friend's face.  
"I wasn't peeking," he insisted, not wanting to look at Hermione until the topic had changed.  
"It's ok," she laughed, "and yes, I'm staying in the tower. Mipsy moved my trunk into the dormitory this afternoon."  
"Mipsy?" Remus asked.  
"She's a house elf, a very determined one too. Every time I tell her that I can take care of something, she tells me off!"  
Sirius barked a laugh, "Are you telling me that you get bossed around by a house elf?"  
"She…I mean…well-"  
"Missy Herminy!" a squeaky and stern voice called and made them all jump. The boys had taken a shortcut to the tower which meant that the corridor was empty apart from them. They turned to the voice to see a house elf, apparently Mipsy by the sounds of it, with her hands on her hips as she looked at Hermione.  
"Yes, Mipsy?"  
The elf marched over to the group, ignoring the smiles that the boys were trying to hide as they looked at the bossy little elf. "Did yous eat your tea?"  
Hermione groaned and started to lead the Marauder's away as she answered, "Yes, Mipsy, I did eat my tea!"  
"Because Missy Poppy says that Mipsy needs to make sure that Missy Herminy is well and doesn't-"  
"Yes, Mipsy!" Hermione squeaked out. "I understand, thank you!"  
The group quickly reached the portrait and Hermione still wouldn't look at the boys who had been laughing all the way down the corridor. "Well, Missy Herminy," Sirius started.  
"Don't! It isn't that hard a name is it? I've had it all! Herminy, Hermy-own-ninny, Hermy, Herms, Miney, Minnie, Min-Min…" she trailed off as she gave the password and entered the common room.  
Lblblbllbb  
Hermione removed the clothes from her trunk and put them away in her dresser as the other girls in the dormitory did the same. There were only two other girls in the room as Lily had to share the Head's quarters with James and so had a room there. There was Alice Peasegood, who would become Alice Longbottom in a few years, and Marlene McKinnon, both of whom Hermione had heard of from Order members in the future. Marlene had died in the first war and Alice ended up in St Mungo's with Frank after their torture. Hermione hadn't been aware of Alice's family, not wanting to ask Neville about such a sensitive subject, and was surprised to learn that she knew her uncle, Arnold Peasegood, he was an Obliviator and was the one that she had talked to about restoring her parents' memories after the war on a visit to the Ministry.  
The girls decided on an early night, after catching up and getting to know Hermione a bit, and turned to bed. Hermione dressed in her pyjamas, a pair of flannel shorts and a long-sleeved Gryffindor t-shirt that Minerva had given her once she was re-sorted and settled into her bed. Once she was sure that the others were asleep, she cast a disillusionment charm and made her way out of the dormitory – pausing on the way to slip on some shoes – and out of the common room to the Order meeting.


	9. Chapter 9

Last chapter: Hermione dressed in her pyjamas, a pair of flannel shorts and a Gryffindor t-shirt that Minerva had given her once she was re-sorted and settled into her bed. Once she was sure that the others were asleep, she cast a disillusionment charm and made her way out of the dormitory – pausing on the way to slip on some shoes – and out of the common room to the Order meeting.  
Lblblblbb  
The Order meeting lasted well into the night, with various members reporting their findings on the activity of known Death Eaters and what they had learned from monitoring new suspects that Hermione had led them to. Albus and Minerva were assigning the week's watches and missions to the group, when they reached the Weasley's, Hermione jumped out of her seat.  
"No missions for Mrs Weasley!"  
"Excuse me, Hermione! I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself on missions, I have before you got here and you won't sideline me just because I'm a woman-"  
Hermione cut off what she was certain would be a famous Molly Weasley lecture early on and moved towards her, "I know you are. I'm not being anti-women, because really, I'm in no position to, what with being a woman and all…I've seen you in action and to be honest, it's kind of scary. But I can't let you-"  
"Can't let me?!" she spluttered angrily.  
Arthur opened his mouth to interfere but before he could get a word out, Hermione pulled her wand from the waistband of her shorts and pointed it at Molly's abdomen, whispering an incantation.  
"What are you-?!" Molly's outrage faded quickly as the air around her stomach glowed a bright blue that stunned the group into a happy silence.  
"You are going to take it easy for the next few months," Hermione insisted smugly before she was pulled into a hug by a crying Molly. She pulled away from the hug and looked between her and Arthur, "Do you want to know anything about…?" she trailed off, not wanting to mention any names, genders or the fact that it was the Weasley twins that were on the way.  
The couple looked at each other for a moment before looking at Molly's stomach, "No," Molly started, "No wait, yes…Do I? Yes, I mean no. I don't want to know."  
Hermione chuckled at the woman's mental battle and assured her that she'd be there for any questions they did want answering, before she moved back to the sofa with the twins.  
Albus had decided that they needed to take their time with the Horcruxes and as only a few Order members knew about their existence, it was avoided and left until the end of the meeting as usual. However, after most of the people had left, he turned to a cosy looking floral settee to find Hermione asleep between the Prewett twins who were looking down at her in amusement.  
"I believe that Miss Granger might not be up for much discussion at the moment," the headmaster remarked with a twinkle in his eyes.  
Fabian smiled sadly at him, "She's tired herself out. She's been running herself ragged with studying,"  
"Training," Gideon continued.  
"Planning."  
"Brewing."  
"I'll take her to bed, don't want to wake her up, she gets mighty grumpy when you do that," Gideon said as he moved to pick her up bridal style.  
Hermione stirred in her sleep as he pulled her close to him and began to mumble in her dreamy state.  
"What was that, love?"  
"He could smell me," she mumbled.  
The twins smiled at each other over her head, half-asleep Hermione was normally fun for a chat. "Who could smell you?"  
"Scabior, I think…he had Grey-Greyback with him. And a woman, but they dro-dropped her," she stuttered sleepily.  
Gideon nodded to his brother, silently telling him to ask the others about her dream, and left the room once Fabian cast a disillusionment charm over both of them, not wanting to be caught by Filch or other students. Fabian looked over to Albus and Minerva and asked, "Either of you know a Scabior?"  
Minerva looked up from the parchment she was reading from and answered, "Yes, there's a seventh year Ravenclaw. Why?"  
"Dreamy Hermione is a talkative Hermione," he shrugged. "And Greyback?"  
"Greyback?" Albus perked up in his chair. "Fenrir Greyback is a werewolf. I am not surprised that she knows of him, if there were any to be on Voldemort's side, it would be those like him."  
"What do you mean?"  
"Greyback preys on children. Mr Lupin is one of his victims. Bites them, turns them, kills them, and even eats them. He is everything that people fear about werewolves. He has a lot of control, Voldemort could harness this power if he could give him what he wanted."  
"What can we do about him?"  
"Nothing, for now. We need to discover what Hermione knows about him. Unfortunately, from what we have seen of him, his…interaction…with women is…vile. I understand that she has experienced some terrible things, most of which she keeps private, but I do hope that it isn't anything like what we have heard," Albus said sadly.  
Lblblblblb  
Gideon made his way through the shortcuts to Gryffindor Tower, unaware that the Marauders were watching his and Hermione's names moving towards them on the map. By the time he had reached the tower and persuaded the Fat Lady that it really was an invisible Professor Prewett escorting a similarly invisible student back to their dormitory, three of the boys, Remus, Sirius and James, were huddled under the invisibility cloak on the sofa across from the portrait.  
Gideon stepped into the common room and once he was satisfied that they were alone, dropped the charm, revealing himself in casual clothing, rather than the teaching robes that he had been wearing earlier. The boys were not focused on that, however, they were focused on the petite brunette that was curled up in his arms.  
The new D.A.D.A. professor made his way over to the girls' staircase and kicked the bottom step. Before he could move up them, the witch in his arms grumbled dozily.  
"What are you kicking things for?"  
He looked down at her to see her rubbing her eyes tiredly, "So that we don't slide back down the stairs."  
"You're a professor, you can go anywhere, you won't slide down the stairs."  
"Oh!" he grinned, "So does that mean that I can sneak into your bedroom whenever I want? Brilliant, I'll keep that in mind!"  
"Anyone ever tell you that you're a git?"  
"That's no way to speak to me, I'm your professor," he said, winking at her and puffing his chest up slightly.  
"You aren't a normal professor, I can hardly imagine Minerva carrying me like this," she said, nodding down at their bodies.  
He raised an eyebrow and smirked, "You can walk, if you'd prefer…"  
"No, no," she said quickly, burying her head in his chest and wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. "Bed now, please."  
"Oh wow!" Gideon responded cheekily, "Such a romantic proposition! How could I possibly-"  
She smacked his chest lightly, "Shut up, you git."  
"As you wish, Princess," he rolled his eyes with a smile and the two disappeared up the stairs.  
Remus whipped off the invisibility cloak and looked at the two other shocked boys. "No competition, you said! Biggest threat is six years old, you said!"


	10. Chapter 10

Last chapter: "Bed now, please." "Oh wow!" Gideon responded cheekily, "Such a romantic proposition! How could I possibly-" She smacked his chest lightly, "Shut up, you git." "As you wish, Princess," he rolled his eyes with a smile and the two disappeared up the stairs. Remus whipped off the invisibility cloak and looked at the two other shocked boys. "No competition, you said! Biggest threat is six years old, you said!"  
Lblblblb  
The Gryffindor's glanced down the table uneasily, unsure whether the Marauder's silence meant that they were tired or waiting for a prank to be unleashed. Remus was staring at his Defence textbook, more like glaring at the page, while Peter dug into his porridge. James and Sirius looked uneasily at their werewolf friend but quickly turned their attentions to their breakfasts whenever he glanced up to catch them watching him. Sirius bit into an apple and looked across the table at James. "Do you want to play questions?" he asked with his mouth full.  
James looked up from his toast, "How d'you play that?"  
Sirius smiled and perked up in his seat, happy that there was finally some conversation, "You have to ask questions-"  
"Statement! One-love," James chirped before shoving the triangle of toast in his mouth.  
"Cheating," Sirius declared with a frown.  
"How?"  
"I hadn't started yet!"  
"Statement, two-love," James shook his head and accepted his timetable from Professor McGonagall who was passing them out along the breakfast table.  
"Are you counting that?"  
James took a sip of his pumpkin juice, "What?"  
"Are you counting that?" Sirius raised his voice.  
James' mouth quirked into a sly smile, "Foul! No repetition, three-love, game."  
"I'm not going to play if you're going to be like that," Sirius grumbled as Professor McGonagall handed him his timetable. He looked down at the parchment and frowned, "Potions with the Slytherins, again? Why can't we have some nice Hufflepuff's or something one year?"  
"Dunno," Pete started after he swallowed his porridge. "Got Divination with 'em this year though," he pointed out.  
"Oh thank Merlin, most of those Ravenclaw's last year actually did the work," James chuckled. "The only reason that we all take it is because you just make something up when you get asked and it's basically a free hour-"  
"Well isn't that an inspiring way for the Head Boy to approach his studies," Lily remarked as she swept past him on her way to the other Gryffindor girls, dragging a tired looking Hermione by the arm.  
"Oh, Evans! I mean! Isn't it disgraceful, when people…take classes to…not do well in them…I-"  
"I'd quit while you were behind, Prongs," Sirius laughed lightly.  
"I wasn't behind-"  
"Well you certainly weren't ahead-"  
"It's inappropriate!"  
The three Marauders turned to Remus as he spoke for the first time that morning. James leaned towards him slightly, "What's inappropriate, mate?"  
"She- and- wha- you know!" he spluttered unintelligibly.  
"Lily's always getting on at me," James smiled wistfully, "It's part of what makes us work-"  
Peter shook his head and grinned while Sirius snorted, "Along with all of those made up parts you keep locked up in your head."  
"Hey! It's not-"  
"I don't mean Lily," Remus interrupted once again. "Granger and Professor Prewett."  
Peter looked up, confused, "What's going on with them?"  
"And since when is she 'Granger'?" Sirius frowned.  
"Since I realised that we don't know her," Remus stated and avoided their eyes as he glanced down the table at her.  
"We do know her," Sirius insisted. "We've spoken to her, a few times, you've seen her naked-"  
"When did that happen?!" Remus squeaked.  
"When you first saw her," Sirius said.  
"No, no, she was fully clothed."  
Sirius cocked his head to the side, not unlike a dog, "Are you sure?"  
James rolled his eyes, "Pretty sure he would have remembered that, Pads."  
"Oh, well, I've been imagining that whole interaction a bit differently then," he said, before taking another bite out of his apple.  
"You've been imagining her…" Remus trailed off.  
"Naked?" Sirius picked up. "A little bit, sorry about that. Tyres crossed-"  
"Wires crossed," Remus corrected absentmindedly.  
"Anyway, we don't know that there's anything romantic going on between them, do we?" James directed them back to the main topic for Remus.  
"But last night he-"  
"Took a sleeping student, who is his friend, back to her dormitory?" James tried to reason. "There's no reason to get all…wolfy about it-"  
Remus bristled and lowered his voice, "I'm not being 'wolfy' about anything!"  
"Moony, you growled at me this morning."  
"You are supremely annoying in the morning," Remus smirked slightly. "Sorry, I don't know what it is, I just…" he sighed. "I don't know."  
"We'll sort it out-"  
"He just winked at her!"  
James groaned, "I'm pretty sure that's Fabian."  
"How can you tell?"  
"They're wearing badges," James answered, pointing at the flashing badges that the identical professors had attached to their robes for the first day of classes.  
"Well why are they both winking at her?"  
James shrugged, "They wink a lot, I thought they were having some kind of joint seizure when Professor Ellis came in-"  
"As fun as this gossip session is, ladies," Sirius drawled as he picked up his bag. "We have to get to Transfiguration if I'm going to get to chat to my lovely lady."  
The others started to leave their seats. Peter piped up, "What lovely lady?"  
Sirius grinned as he jogged on slightly, catching up with a witch a little bit ahead of their group, "Professor Minnie! How I've missed you!" he cheered.  
"Mr Black, do pipe down," the aging professor said sharply. "And don't call me Minnie unless you want to find yourself in detention for the rest of the year."  
"But Min-Mins! Surely you can't-"  
James looked to the other boys, "I guess that answers your question."


	11. Chapter 11

Last chapter: "Anyway, we don't know that there's anything romantic going on between them, do we?" James directed them back to the main topic for Remus. "But last night he-" "Took a sleeping student, who is his friend, back to her dormitory?" James tried to reason…"As fun as this gossip session is, ladies," Sirius drawled as he picked up his bag. "We have to get to Transfiguration if I'm going to get to chat to my lovely lady." The others started to leave their seats. Peter piped up, "What lovely lady?" Sirius grinned as he jogged on slightly, catching up with a witch a little bit ahead of their group, "Professor Minnie! How I've missed you!" he cheered.  
Lblblblblb  
Hermione walked into Transfiguration with Lily, Marlene and Alice, ready for her first lesson in 1977. Truth be told, she was more than prepared for her N.E.W.T.'s since she had read the textbooks set for seventh year in 1997 and they covered more advanced material than what students in this decade were studying. She was still tired after staying up late last night, after months on the run and a lack of sleep, she had taken advantage of a long, semi-stress-free summer and a comfortable bed by making sure that she had plenty of sleep. In the last week, this relaxation had been put on the back burner as she had been brewing various potions to keep the hospital wing and the Order's healer fully equipped, as well as researching the current whereabouts of Voldemort's horcruxes and trying to recall all the information passed on to her from Order members in her original time.  
She followed the girls to a desk near the front of the class and when she looked up at Minerva, she was rewarded with a small smile that soothed any leftover nerves about spending time with her best friend's long-dead-but-now-alive-and-seventeen-year-old mother. Before last night's meeting, after she had met Lily Evans and finally seen that Harry really did have his mother's eyes, she had told her aging professor of her worries about being around people that were important to their work but were not in the Order and as such, were not to know anything about the truth of her situation. The flash of the smile was quickly hidden and the Professor McGonagall mask slipped back into place as she swatted at Sirius' hand with her book, earning a hiss of pain from the teenager.  
"Minnie! That was uncalled for!"  
"5 points from Gryffindor, Mr Black. And I have already made it clear to you a few minutes ago, what will happen if you do not desist with these…pet names," the tight lipped professor moved over to the counter by the blackboard where she picked up a box and moved back to the front of her desk.  
Hermione turned her head to see that the Marauders were seated at the desk across the aisle from the girls. Furthest from her was Sirius, who was making notes on a piece of parchment that sat between himself and James – since Minerva hadn't started the lesson yet, she was suspicious of what they were planning. Next to James was Peter, who was glancing between the piece of parchment and the box in the professor's hands. Then there was Remus in the seat closest to her, flipping to the page in the textbook that was written on the board.  
She opened the book to page 243 and saw that they were covering animal transfiguration that day, which explained the box. Minerva began her lecture and walked along the rows of students, placing the 'necessary materials' on the desk in front of each of them. Having mastered this spell in fifth year and studied it in her sixth, Hermione only half listened to the lesson and instead, began petting her new spiky desk mate.  
Happy to be back in a classroom again, Hermione's thoughts wandered to her past life, if she could really call it that. It hadn't carried on, there was no point in wondering how Harry was, or what Ron was up to. She had gone back in time, there was no other Hermione Granger that had gone back. There wouldn't be another Hermione Granger for almost two years, when she would be born. After a week of research, she had accepted that the headmaster had been right, there was no going back. She was of this time now, and she could change the future. She could change it for the better. Harry could have his parents. Sirius wouldn't get sent to Azkaban. Remus wouldn't spend all of those years alone.  
Peter was a problem though. The other Remus, older Remus, had mentioned to her that Peter had become distant during their fifth year. He had also seen his name on the map with Slytherins and other students that had gone on to become Death Eaters. Not wanting to make Peter feel bad and assuming that they had been hassling him as they sometimes did, he hadn't pushed his friend to talk about what he had seen, only mentioning it a little but being shrugged off by Peter with an excuse that they were just 'being Slytherins, as usual…', older Remus had told her that he thought that that was his turning point. If he was right, that meant that there was no helping Peter. There was only getting rid of him.  
Minerva's sharp voice cut through her solemn thoughts and she clapped her hands together, "Now have a go, I'll be coming around to help if you need it."  
Hermione waved her wand and wordlessly transformed her hedgehog into a pincushion. She trailed a finger along the pink floral fabric before returning it to its previous state. She caught Minerva's proud smirk but missed the Marauder's raised eyebrows.  
Unlike the Marauder's, who had been watching the new girl from the corner of their eyes, the girls were focused on the set task. Lily got it on the third go and smiled proudly at her blue gingham pincushion, Marlene took a few tries but soon mastered the spell. Hermione looked at Alice and couldn't help but smile at the familiarly frustrated expression that she had seen on Neville's face. She glanced at Alice's red and slightly hedgehog-shaped pincushion as it wriggled its' nose.  
"It's the wand movement," she advised. "A little more fluid and that should do it."  
Alice smiled sheepishly and after a few more fluid tries, she had an inanimate pincushion. "Thanks," she said before looking at Hermione's hedgehog. "But yours isn't…"  
"Oh, I turned him back."  
Alice looked confused, as did the two other girls. "Erm…why?"  
"Well, I wouldn't want to sit around being a pincushion all day after being a living, breathing hedgehog. I don't know what they do, but I bet it's better than getting stuck with needles and pins."  
"But what about your grade?" Lily lowered her voice, looking around for Professor McGonagall.  
"The professor already saw him once I'd done it, but I can do it again if she needs me to," Hermione shrugged.  
They smiled at her and Marlene arched an eyebrow, "'Him'?"  
"I don't know if it's a 'him', I haven't checked."  
"What's this about checking on 'him's?" Sirius piped up from across the room.  
"How did he even hear…?" Alice asked quietly.  
Sirius grinned in response, "Hearing like a bat, m'dear."  
"More like a dog," James mumbled with a smirk that the Marauders all soon mirrored.  
"Anyway," Sirius continued, "Who's this 'him'? Why are you checking him out? Should I be jealous?"  
Hermione laughed lightly, "Why would you be jealous?"  
James made a quick movement with his arm but his expression remained innocent as Sirius yelped and rubbed his side, "Just fishing for information," he mumbled to his friend before looking back to the girls' desk. "Someone's obviously caught your attention and I just wondered…who that someone might be?"  
Hermione, familiar with Sirius' games, decided to tease him a bit. She sighed semi-dramatically and looked wistfully into the distance, "His name's Jerry."  
The girls laughed a little, happy that the new girl obviously wasn't like one of those girls that fawned over Sirius. The boys however, had a different reaction. Sirius' eyes widened, as did James'. Peter seemed slightly confused as the mood wavered between teasing and tense, judging by the girls' laughter and the tight grip that Remus had on his quill.  
"He's really cute, and sweet," she continued. "I haven't known him for that long but I hope that he'll be around for…a long time," she turned her gaze away from the boys' side of the room and back down at her desk.  
The boys were silent for a moment, unsure of what to do. Peter felt completely lost, which was not uncommon for him. James and Sirius, however, remembered Remus' reaction to Hermione's blush last night at dinner, to seeing her being carried to bed by Gideon and were unsure of how to proceed. It didn't matter though, as they were saved only a few seconds later when she spoke again.  
Hermione whipped her head up and looked at Remus, who's eyes were drawn to her, as they always seemed to be. He started momentarily at her eyes, bright with mischief that he had not expected. He was about to attempt to say something when she held her hands up close to him across the aisle.  
"See! Isn't he just precious?"  
He heard Lily and Marlene laugh loudly as Alice giggled into her hand. He looked down at her outstretched hands and saw…Jerry. Jerry the hedgehog was sniffing around Hermione's hand and towards Remus, his light brown snout twitching as he did.  
"Is there a problem? Miss Granger? Mr Lupin?" Professor McGonagall asked as she walked down the aisle from the back of the class, up to the point where she was blocked by Hermione's arms.  
"Not at all, Professor," Hermione smiled, pulling her arms back to her and cradling Jerry to her chest. "I was just introducing Remus to Jerry."  
The older woman looked puzzled, "Jerry? Who is-" she cut herself off as she spied the critter that her time-travelling student was now nuzzling, obviously slightly lost in the childishness that the Prewett twins had worked to bring out in her more often. "You named your teaching materials?"  
"Maybe," the girl answered warily, not wanting to look her professor/mentor/friend in the eye.  
"Did you transfigure that bow tie yourself?" McGonagall asked, pointing at the animals' smartly dressed neck with her wand.  
"Perhaps," she said slowly.  
"5 points to Gryffindor. But no more fooling around, get back to your reading, all of you!" she finished, addressing the students that had paused in their work to watch what was happening in the middle of the classroom.  
The students turned back to their books, whispering between themselves about the events. Hermione put Jerry on her book, with a wag of her finger as she told him not to…relieve himself on her books before she began writing notes on the passage on the spell in the textbook. Lily, Marlene and Alice all returned to their work with small smiles, each of them taking a few seconds to return their animals to their natural states.  
The Marauders were silent once again, something that had happened too often since the appearance of one Miss Hermione Granger. Peter leaned over to Remus and whispered to him, "How many points would that have cost us?"  
"Too many to count, Peter," Remus admitted with a fond glance at the witch across the aisle from him.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: So this is the last chapter that has been sent to me. Give me a week or so and I will have at least one more chapter posted. I promise this is the last of me putting this story off. It will get seen through to the end after now. I will try to start posting chapters frequently. I will be out of town for a week mid-august, but I will try to bring my computer so I can work on this while I'm gone. I start my senior year on August 24th, so there may be a lack of updates around then while I adjust to being back in school, but I promise I will come back to this story. And here is chapter twelve.**

Last chapter: Hermione put Jerry on her book…Lily, Marlene and Alice all returned to their work with small smiles…The Marauders were silent once again, something that had happened too often since the appearance of one Miss Hermione Granger. Peter leaned over to Remus and whispered to him, "How many points would that have cost us?" "Too many to count, Peter," Remus admitted with a fond glance at the witch across the aisle from him.  
Lblblblblbllbb  
After Transfiguration, Hermione, Lily and Alice had Arithmancy while the others were in Divination. As it was their last year at Hogwarts and the NEWTs were upon them, the classes were more intense and longer, which Hermione was happy about. She wished that she and Harry and Ron had found a way to avoid missing their seventh year at the school, not that their hunt wasn't important and in fact instrumental in defeating Voldemort, it just wasn't the same completing her education here without them…and with Harry's parents who hadn't yet got together and were constantly bickering. Well, not bickering, James was eagerly pursuing Lily as Alice had informed her had been the case for years, while Lily rolled her eyes and ignored the comments about the 'Golden couple of Gryffindor' as she apparently turned down every Hogsmeade invitation that he had been extending to her.  
She had also covered the material in her sixth year, as the courses had changed between 1977 and the years that she had attended Hogwarts in her own time. This didn't bother her, she actually found it helpful that she would be able to spend her time helping Dumbledore with the Order's plans. Her habit of reading through all of her textbooks every year and the large amounts of free time that she had at her disposal as they searched for the horcruxes meant that she was more advanced than the others in her year. She even knew some spells and potions that hadn't been invented yet, as well as some that she shouldn't know about. The spells that Professor Snape, or Severus as she realised she should be calling him, might not have even been invented yet and she certainly wouldn't want him to find her casting 'Muffliato' when the only place the spell could be found was in his potions textbook. The potions were more helpful, or at least they would be. The Wolfsbane Potion was still in its trial stage in 1977, but Hermione was brewing the potion for Remus' next transformation and she and Dumbledore had a few weeks until they would need to find a way to convince him to drink the disgusting potion for a whole week without him getting suspicious about the brewer or the development of the potion, which had been kept quiet by the Ministry until it was approved. Hermione had been thrilled to discover that there were some subjects that had been cancelled in her time due to insufficient demand that were available in the 70's like Alchemy and Ancient Studies (which she was a little prepared for after reading some of Bill's Egyptian cursebreaking textbooks while she was recovering in Shell Cottage) that she had persuaded Dumbledore to let her enrol in.  
Hermione took herself to the twins quarters when her classes finished as they had asked her to at lunch. At least she thought that was what they had meant. There was a lot of hand gestures and wriggling around, unless they were trying to tell her about some sort of worm infestation, she had no idea what they were trying to say.  
She reached their portrait and looked up awkwardly at the man in an armchair who looked back at her just as uncomfortably. She raised her hand to knock but thought about it and pulled back.  
"I don't know the password, am I supposed to knock or do I-?"  
He smiled at her and shook his head, "No, no, I'll go let them know."  
Hermione waited in the quiet corridor as the old man shuffled out of his seat and past the frame of his painting and out of sight. A few moments passed and he came back into view, before he had the chance to say anything, the portrait swung open and she was yanked inside the room by the energetic professors.  
"My Min-Min!" Fabian cried.  
"How we missed you!" Gideon exclaimed.  
Hermione pried their arms off of her and moved over to one of the sofas in their living room, noticing that their quarters looked a lot like Fred and George's flat in terms of its colourfulness, she had only seen the boys' flat once before she left for the horcrux hunt and when she had returned to 93 Diagon Alley with Ginny to get some things for George, the once vibrant home had been demolished.  
"What were you two doing the Mexican wave for earlier? I had those giggly Hufflepuff girls after me all the way through Muggle Studies about what you wanted," she asked with a tired smile.  
"We weren't doing a 'Mexican rave'-"  
"Wave," she corrected, fully aware that they weren't going to listen.  
"-We were preparing you for tonight's discussion!"  
"Which is about?"  
"Snakes," Fabian shrugged.  
"Not just any snakes, dear brother," Gideon grinned. "Big ugly horcruxian-"  
"I don't think that's a word."  
"-snakes that may or may not be horcruxified-"  
"Even I know that's not a real word," Fabian stage-whispered to Hermione.  
"-as well as the big one in the loo that everyone seems to be ignoring…" Gideon finished, trying to catch Hermione's eye.  
Hermione kept her gaze on her hands in her lap, avoiding looking at either of the twins. She had wanted to find a way to destroy the horcruxes without going down to the Chamber and getting the venom from the Basilisk. It wouldn't be the same as it had been the first time around. It wasn't a skeleton down there, she wouldn't have one of her best and oldest friends by her side. The thing was alive. Ron hadn't even been thought of yet. She knew that the twins wanted to kill the basilisk, they had talked about supersensory charms and blindfolds as well as disillusionment and masking charms to hide themselves from the snake. But out of everyone in the Order, she was the only one who had known about the beasts existence, she was the only one who had been in the infamous Chamber of Secrets, and most importantly, only she had ever looked it in the eye and lived.  
Hermione was scared. She wasn't afraid to admit that the thought of any snake made her skin crawl and her experiences with Nagini in the 90's had left her terrified to the point of vomiting. Salazar Slytherin's little pet would be around 50ft long and be almost 1000 years old, she was much more frightening than Voldemort's worm of a snake.  
She didn't want to go down there, didn't want to risk looking into that glassy yellow eye and see nothing. It wouldn't be wise to take mirrors down there or cast reflective charms over the walls, it would only end with three petrified Order members and a very happy basilisk.  
But it could be necessary. Killing the basilisk and taking its fangs and venom could provide the Order with weapons in the event that the horcruxes needed to be disposed of as soon as possible. She dreaded to think of what would happen if Neville had been armed with any other sword when he killed Nagini, the chances were that without the venom in the sword, the snake and Voldemort would not have died. If they were scattered and found a horcrux, they would be able to kill it without waiting for assistance.  
Knowing that the two aurors-turned-professors were watching her closely, she nodded, and felt Fabian's arm wind around her shoulders while Gideon sat down cross-legged in front of her and held her hand. They didn't speak for a while until Fabian noted that they needed to make an appearance in the Great Hall for dinner and then they needed an early night if they were going to make their grand speech/presentation/argument to the senior Order members about their trip to the first-floor girls' bathroom.


End file.
